Fisgard Street in Art

Sidewalk Shops on Fisgard Street. Watercolour painting by Robert Amos, 2000.

Now the central street of Chinatown, Fisgard Street contains a vibrant mix of organizational headquarters, commercial space and housing. Many of the buildings in the block between Government and Store streets were constructed between the 1880s and the First World War. Although some of the buildings started to deteriorate from neglect in the 1960s, Chinatown experienced a revitalization in the 1970s and 1980s. The City of Victoria and the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association recognized and interpreted the heritage value of Chinatown, artists such as Robert Amos were invited to rent refurbished spaces as studios, and the Gate of Harmonious Interest was built in 1981. In these paintings of Fisgard’s streetscape from 1994 to 2011, Amos shows the gate at twilight from a vantage point near the Chinese Public School, the street lit up with lanterns as seen from the east, and a summer streetscape where passers-by shop for fruits, vegetables and other products from sidewalk displays.

Click here for more information about Fisgard Street.

Fisgard Street Looking West. Watercolour painting by Robert Amos, 1994.

Fisgard Street Looking East. Acrylic painting by Robert Amos, 2011.